London
Popular citiesBrowse all cities
Timeout

Get us in your inbox

By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions.

Search

Fresh meat: the 2014 Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer nominees

These six rising stars earned Best Newcomer nominations at last year’s Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Awards. You can catch them all at Soho Theatre this month… except one

Advertising

The winner!

Alex Edelman
© Corey Melton

Alex Edelman

Who is he? A 25-year-old Boston-born, New York-raised stand-up. He now splits his time between London and the States.

So he won this award? He sure did. His confident Edinburgh debut ‘Millennial’ wowed the judging panel. It’s full of smart jokes, slick observations and stories of pedantic arguments.

He’s a nitpicker, then? Exactly. The US youngster recreates his tales of bickering backchat, and picks at his opponents’ arguments like they were annoying scabs.

Where can I see him? You have plenty of chances. Edelman’s ‘Millennial’ runs from Tuesday January 13 to 31.

And the nominees…

Dane Baptiste

Dane Baptiste

Who’s this? A 33-year-old comic hailing from southeast London.

What’s his show about? In ‘Citizen Dane’ the no-nonsense comic flits between many topics – his Grenadan parents, nutmeg, wasps, Superman – and often produces observational gold.

Are big things predicted? Definitely. He has ‘panel show regular’ written all over him. So catch ‘Citizen Dane’ (January 26 to 31) before he starts filling bigger venues.
Gein’s Family Giftshop

Gein’s Family Giftshop

That doesn’t sound like the name of stand-up comedian. Correct! This lot are a Manchester-based sketch trio.

What kind of sketches? Well, they describe their show as ‘just jizz and bumholes’, which is semi-true – there are masturbation gags aplenty. But there’s intelligence and dry wit behind the toilet humour. You won’t see their punchlines coming even when ‘coming’ is the punchline.

Give me dates. Tuesday January 13 to Saturday 17.
Advertising
Lazy Susan
© Steve Ullathorne

Lazy Susan

Google’s just bringing up those rotating trays. Yeah, er, this sketch duo don’t have the most search-engine-friendly name. Lazy Susan are Celeste Dring and Freya Parker.

What sets them apart from other sketch acts? Lazy Susan’s skits are character-driven, with the big laughs coming from Dring and Parker’s subtle performances, and there’s a great deal of heart and warmth to each character.

When can I catch them? You have just three chances to see Lazy Susan’s ‘Extreme Humans’, on January 22, 23 and 24.
Lucy Beaumont

Lucy Beaumont

Hasn’t Time Out been banging on about her for a while? We have, yes. We’ve been championing this Hull-born comic since she won the BBC New Comedy Award in 2012. (And – glad to see you’re a regular reader of the comedy pages. Thanks for your continued support.)

Has the BBC kept in touch? Oh yes. After a successful pilot, Beaumont’s working on a series for Radio 4, and Maureen Lipman’s playing her mum.

What’s her shtick? Beaumont’s stand-up is full of homely observations and innocent anecdotes. It’s slow-burning, but there are sharp punchlines around every cosy corner. Her debut show, ‘We Can Twerk it Out’, runs January 19 to 21.
Advertising
Steen Raskopoulos

Steen Raskopoulos

Don’t you mean Steve? No, that’s not a typo. You’re not the first to get this 27-year-old Aussie comic’s name muddled, though. You’re forgiven.

Thank you. What does Stev – sorry, Steen – do then? Character comedy involving the audience. He coerces punters into taking part in mock job interviews or smothering his body in sunblock. But it’s always playful, never scary.

Sounds great! When’s he in town? Er, well, not any time soon. Raskopoulos is based Down Under, so he’s currently enjoying the Aussie summer. He’ll be back, though. We don’t know when, but he’ll be back.

Looking for more comedy features?

Advertising
Advertising
Advertising
Advertising
See all comedy features
Recommended
    You may also like
    You may also like
    Advertising

    Get us in your inbox

    Loading animation
    Déjà vu! We already have this email. Try another?

    By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions.

    🙌 Awesome, you're subscribed!

    Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon!

    Time Out

    About us

    Contact us

    Time Out products

    Site Map
    © 2024 Time Out England Limited and affiliated companies owned by Time Out Group Plc. All rights reserved. Time Out is a registered trademark of Time Out Digital Limited.